3. REACTIVE
APPROACH
Wait until crisis
takes place
Brand is on the back
foot
Coming from
defensive position
PROACTIVE
APPROACH
Have strong
relationships in
place
Longterm view
Offensive position
If you’re already in crisis, then it’s too late!
5. We take the time to get to know each other
We communicate openly and frequently
We make the effort to understand what’s important to the other
person
We invest time, money and energy in getting to know each other
We build trust capital
What do we do in a longterm relationship?
6. When crisis strikes…
Transparent: We made a point of answering the hard questions as best
we could.
1 Proactive: Bloggers sought out the brand to clarify the facts.
2
3
Timely: We had pre-prepared information to provide them with. No waiting for
corporate sign off.
7. Build it and they will come
Uncover
talent
Nurture
and grow
Partner Advocate
9. From like to love
Unpaid brand advocacy Personal advocacyPaid activity
10. Define the crisis – may not be one for the brand, but
could be huge for the influencer
Take a longterm view
Have NDAs in place
Be as transparent as possible
Share information early
Arm influencers with information, support and brand
contacts
So what should we do?
Story of agency whose client was about to be delisted at Woolworths
One night stand vs longterm relatiionship
Influencer brand immersion
Proactive comms
Mutually beneficial relationship
Relationships = series of debits and credits
If you were working in the fashion or retailing space, or even just following the news in 2013, you may remember the tragic fires that tore through a factory in Bangladesh.
I was working for one of the organisations who were called into account for their ethical sourcing practices
The organization had already started working with bloggers in a more structured way, and had built up a relationship with a number of them
The bloggers reached out to us, as they felt concerned that it reflected poorly on them, as they had publicly backed the brand previously and now their readers were questioning them
We were able to re-use existing comms that had been prepared for other purposes, which allowed us to quickly get the information in their hands
We didn’t push anyone to post, but a number chose to and shared the key messages we had provided, which was received well by their audiences and we didn’t lose any bloggers as a result.
At the time we didn’t understand the impact that this could have on the brand, and we should have measured it better – but it taught me the value of having influencers on your side…
Taking the lessons I learned after that Bangladesh experience, it was a welcome opportunity to work on the Bupa Blog Awards and look at how we could expand on that.
Insurance and health care, like other industries, is open to risk – especially when dealing with such a big customer base
It was important to me to not only look at the influencers we used as a way of expanding our audiences, but building advocates for our brand
The awards framework is a good way to do this.
We uncover talent through a competition
Provide the bloggers with regular opportunities to upskill and network, as well as understand our business – so it’s not simply a transactional relationship
We partner with the bloggers on campaign ideas – taking their feedback in during briefing stages to make sure it will really land for their audiences
And through all this, we build advocates. They are more invested in our campaigns, and our brand.
An example of where this has worked well for Bupa is with Karan from Doxies Down Under
While starting with us initially as a finalist in the Bupa Blog Awards, Karan went on to win her category
She has now worked on a number of paid campaigns with us
She has also attended events and provided us with ‘free’ activity to support campaigns
We have also had her go above and beyond, personally advocating for us on social media and in real life during times such as rate rise, which can be a tricky time for any health insurer.